Barefoot Girls (53 page)

Zo knew that the fact that Keeley fell asleep so easily had a lot to do with all the wine her friend had continued to drink over Uno, even after the others had stopped and switched to coffee. The four of them loved a cocktail, but not in the way Keeley had loved her wine that afternoon. No, that constant, almost grateful, sipping from her wine glass wasn’t about having fun. It was about numbing. The question was: why was Keeley numbing herself?  Keeley had been forcibly sunny all afternoon, but there had been a distracted distance, an off-note, in it all. What had been said on that boardwalk? It gnawed at Zo.

She turned over again on the couch, wrapping the soft chenille blanket more closely around her shoulders and pushing her face into the silk-covered pillow. Pam certainly knew comfort. Too bad it didn’t help in moments like these. Zo would probably never fall asleep. She was too wired up from anxiety and anger, a stimulating combination even without the two cups of coffee she’d had over the course of the afternoon. She’d played cards without enthusiasm, desperately wanting to run after Hannah and being stopped by the calm reason of Pam and Amy. Thank God for them, for if it had been stoically cheerful Keeley in her way, Zo would have pushed her aside and run down that boardwalk - hang the consequences.

Pam and Amy were right, of course. It had to be the two of them, not just one. Tomorrow would dawn soon enough. Just wait, be patient. Zo sighed. It was tough.

She turned over again and tried to relax. Slowly, her mind let go and images bloomed behind her eyelids. Her breathing became deeper. There were bright flowers. A garden. Red and yellow and orange flowers everywhere. They were moving. Dancing. Like flames. They were flames, not flowers. Licking on wood. Old wooden stairs.

Climbing, tiny licking yellow flame-flowers.

Zo sucked in a huge breath and sat up, the blanket dropping away. Something was wrong. She swung her legs off of the couch and looked around. The velvety darkness of the island filled the room, making her blind. No lights, not even nightlights or streetlights except for those all the way across the water on the causeway that gave a light orange edging to the windows. The much-talked-about full moon must have gone behind a cloud.

No, something was wrong. She could feel it. Hannah.

She reached down beside the couch and felt around for the flashlight that Pam had reluctantly given her when she insisted, battling the old-school sensibilities of her friend with her own determination to be safely mobile in the night. Her hand grazed the hard molded plastic and, grasping it, picked it up and switched it on. Putting it down on the floor so the light spilled in an elongated circle across the polished wood, she put on her now-dry boat shoes and tied their laces. She had to go to their little house. If her feeling was wrong and Hannah and the house were fine, she’d turn around, come back to Pam’s and try to sleep.

There was a muttering from the daybed around the corner. Then Keeley said, “Zo? Is that you? What are you doing?”

Tell her? She had to. She walked over to where her friend lay on the daybed. “I have a bad feeling. About Hannah. I just want to check on her.”

Keeley propped herself up on one elbow. She was still wearing her clothes from the day, refusing the pajamas Pam had offered her, saying she wanted to be ready to go first thing. Zo had put on sweatpants and a sweatshirt, an outfit Neil would’ve hated. He preferred frilly feminine nightgowns and silky slips. She relished the thought of never having to worry about what he thought again.

“Really? Oh, I’m sure she’s fine,” Keeley said, squinting up at her.

Zo looked at her. It was amazing. The years had barely touched her beautiful friend, especially in this light. She looked almost identical to how she’d looked at eighteen, as delicately blond and porcelain-perfect. All that had changed was that were a few laugh-lines around her eyes.

“I’m just going to check. If the house is fine, I’ll come back. Don’t worry, I won’t wake her. I just can’t sleep feeling like this.”

Keeley blinked. “Feeling?”

“Like something’s wrong. Something bad. I’ve got to go.”

“Okay, okay. Hold your horses. I just need to put on my shoes.”

There was a fluttering panic in her chest. Time was wasting away, going too fast. Hannah!

“I can’t wait. I’m sorry,” Zo said and turned, jogged to the door, threw it open, and ran into the orange-edged darkness.

Chapter 56

Keeley tripped and fell on the boardwalk almost as soon as she left Pam’s, scraping both hands and banging her knee, which sent a bolt of pain both up and down her leg. After that, she limped a little as she made her way down the boardwalk, swearing softly to herself while rubbing her sore hands together. She stared as hard as she could, trying to see the boardwalk. She could imagine herself just walking right off of it and falling into the cold water. As if mocking her, the waves seemed to lap more loudly against the docks and bulkheads. Where was that damn moon? Hidden behind clouds – now, when she needed it.

As she walked, she thought about Zooey and Hannah. If Zo went into their house in her current state and said something to Hannah, it would probably be the wrong thing. Actually, it would definitely be the wrong thing. They had to be together when they told Hannah. They had agreed on this. All they had to do was wait until morning. Was that so hard? What a bad day it had been. Even she had to admit that, no matter her efforts to jolly her way through it, the whole thing had been a miserable failure.

As she walked, she noticed that the orange of the streetlights across the water seemed stronger now, the light gilding all of the trees and shrubs. She always remembered the glow from the causeway being dim, barely touching the darkness. Had the lamps been replaced with brighter bulbs? Then she turned a corner on the boardwalk and saw the actual source of the light. Yellow flames leapt and clung to the outside walls of their little house, not from inside like most house fires, but around the edges of it and mostly toward the front where the boardwalk came to an end at the stairs. Only a few flames had crept back toward the rear of the house. A figure stood in front of it, arms out, hands spread.

Keeley staggered to a halt, staring at their house is surprise. Their house was on fire? How? Hannah was in there!

Keeley burst into motion and ran toward the house, the boardwalk visible now in the wavering light. As she drew closer, she saw the backlit figure was Zo, standing and staring at the stairs that went up to their house. The stairs were fully engulfed, flames dancing on every step. As if on cue, Hannah opened the front door at the top of the steps, looking around frantically and then down at Zo.

“Wait, honey!” Zo yelled up to her. “I’m going to get some water!” She looked around in every direction, and then she saw Keeley.

“Keeley! Get a bucket! Anywhere – check under the Smith’s house!” She pointed at the next-door neighbors’ house that was set back on the last part of dry land on the island.

Keeley turned back toward the Smith’s house. Good idea. She started toward the house, and that was when she heard the scream. Her head snapped around.

A woman with short dark hair was running at her from the Smith’s dock, which was right next to their own. It had been empty, and now there was a woman on it, charging at her. Where had she come from?

“Aieeeeee!” The woman was bearing down, her shriek wild, her expression of rage terrifying.

She didn’t recognize the woman’s face, didn’t have time to even understand what was going on, before the woman fell on her, knocking her down on the wooden boards. Keeley fell hard, the woman’s weight – though not heavy – hitting her full force. The back of Keeley’s head slammed against the boardwalk, making her black out briefly, the world fading and then coming back in shades of pulsing red. Then she felt the woman’s hands wrap around her neck.

Chapter 57

Zooey looked up at Hannah, who was standing in the open doorway of the house, her bulging eyes darting around in every direction, her face deathly pale in spite of the rosy light. She had clearly been asleep when Zo had arrived. There had been no movement in the house and the only sound on this windless night was the gentle lapping of the waves and the hissing and popping of the fire.

As Zo was running toward the house and taking in the nightmarish scene, she’d realized immediately that the fire had been set. House fires didn’t start on the steps and exterior of a house. They glowed from within, shining from the windows before consuming the walls.

Who would do this? First, Hannah’s car. Now, their little house. Their house was burning! It was impossible to wrap her mind around the idea. She looked around, hoping to see the culprit, but the boardwalk and docks were clear, only an old rowboat swayed and rocked where it was tied up at the neighbor’s dock, the Smith’s. It was covered with a snap-on cover to prevent it from filling with water and sinking. The Smith’s were nice people, but they weren’t that smart. No matter how many people told them it was better to dry-dock your boats every winter, or at least pull them up onto the grasses and tie them up there, they lost at least one boat every year this way.

Zo skidded to a stop at the base of the stairs to their house. The stairs were fully on-fire, flames wrapping around each step, reminding her of logs burning in a fireplace.

“Hannah! Hannah!”

She screamed up to her for almost two minutes before Hannah appeared, opening the front door, her hair sticking up, disoriented from sleep.

“It’s going to be okay,” Zo said, forcing herself to calm down. Panic wouldn’t help anyone. Water, that’s what they needed. Just put out the stairs, and get Hannah out of the house.

“Wait, honey!” Zo yelled up to her. “I’m going to get some water.” She turned around, about to head over to the Smith’s, knowing they never locked the storage area beneath their house. There had to be a bucket there. Then she saw Keeley, running down the boardwalk toward them. Oh, thank God. Help.

She yelled to Keeley to get a bucket from the Smith’s, realizing at the same time that Hannah could get water from the pump in the kitchen, so that could be a solution, too. She saw Keeley nod and turn back toward the Smith’s house. Zo was starting to turn back to face Hannah when she heard the shriek and looked back.

A woman was running up the Smith’s dock screaming. She was running right at Keeley, arms outstretched.

“Oh, my God,” Hannah said.

Zo looked up at Hannah, who was staring at the woman. “What?” She looked back in time to see the woman tackle Keeley. “Oh! My God!” Who was that? What was going on?

As if hearing her thoughts, Hannah answered. “It’s Mrs. McGrath. I can’t believe it. She’s attacking Mom!”

In addition to the high pitched screaming coming from the woman who was now on top of Keeley, the fire itself gave a huge roar. Zo’s head snapped back, dragging her eyes away from Keeley and the woman and back to the fire. Keeley would have to fend for herself for now. The fire was growing.

“Hannah,” Zo said. “Hannah! Here! Can you get in the kitchen?”

Hannah shook her head and blinked, looking down at Zo.

“Can you get in the kitchen? Is the room on fire?”

Hannah looked over her shoulder and then back down. “Yes, I can get in there.”

“There’s a big mixing bowl in the cabinet. Fill it with water and bring it here. You’re going to need to put out the steps, okay?”

Just as she finished speaking, the burning wooden stairway listed to the right with a groan and snapped. The portion near the top of the steps fell, still flaming, onto the water below and started hissing, steam rising around it.

Hannah stepped back from the doorway in surprise while Zo just stared. Oh, God. What were they going to do?

She looked up at her wide-eyed daughter, her beautiful grown-up baby that she had held in her arms right after she was born, a red wet scrunch-faced little peanut who she promised she would always love and watch over. Then she had handed her to Keeley and tried not to cry.  Zo raised her arms up. “Hannah, honey. Jump to me. I’ll catch you.”

Chapter 58

As the woman’s hands tightened on her neck, cutting off the air and making white pinpricks dance in front of Keeley’s eyes, Keeley’s instincts kicked in. Fight or die. She looked in the woman’s eyes, so close to her own, and saw glee.

Keeley raised her arm, formed a fist, and punched the woman as hard as she could in the ear. The woman’s eyes snapped shut in pain and her grip on Keeley’s throat loosened. Keeley pushed her and rolled away as fast as she could, sucking in air to her deprived lungs.

“Aigh! Ahh!” The woman was scrambling after her, one hand on her injured ear. Keeley rolled off of the boardwalk and fell down onto the seaweed-clotted beach, making a bolt of pain shoot through her shoulder which took the brunt of her fall. She got up on her hands and knees just as the woman catapulted at her from the boardwalk, knocking her into the shallow water, face first. “Aieeee!”

Sputtering, Keeley hit at the woman with her elbow, connecting with the woman’s arm and then ribcage. The woman continued her crazed screaming, pushing her into the water. “Get – off – me –“ Keeley yelled with every slam of her elbow.